Has Telstra delayed HTC One XL launch?

news Australian specialist Android media outlet Ausdroid has reported that Telstra may have delayed its rumoured launch of a 4G version of HTC’s new One smartphone series, further pushing back the date when Australian mobile phone enthusiasts will have access to a top-level smartphone supporting the telco’s new 4G network.

In early March Telstra confirmed it will shortly be launching two handsets in HTC’s new flagship One line-up in Australia, firming suspicions that HTC’s new top-end LTE model could be headed to the big T’s flagship Next G 4G mobile network. All of the HTC One handsets run the new Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0) edition of Google’s Android operating system, and offer advanced features over the company’s line of HTC Sensation and Desire handsets previously launched in Australia.

The top-end model of the One range is the HTC One X. The phone features a polycarbonate unibody design and is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 CPU, with a quad-core processor running at 1.5GHz (plus an additional core which HTC says is aimed at saving battery life). To keep the phone’s graphics up to speed, it runs a 12-core NVIDIA graphics processing unit.

The screen of the One X is a 4.7″ touchscreen running at a high definition resolution of 720p and using Corning’s Gorilla Glass material. In countries with 4G (using the Long-Term Evolution standard or LTE), it will also launch in a model supporting LTE and with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU at 1.5GHz, to be known as the One XL. It is this HTC One XL handset which some in the industry suspect Telstra will launch over its 4G network. Telstra is currently the only Australian mobile carrier to have launched 4G services in Australia.

It is possible that Telstra will launch the HTC One XL and also the HTC One S, which features lower specifications than the One X and XL, but is still high-end by smartphone standards. HTC is billing the phone as its slimmest phone yet, at just 7.99mm thick. Telstra previously launched the S version of HTC’s Desire smartphone in mid-2011.

Both Optus and Vodafone have already launched the HTC One X in Australia, but according to a report by Ausdroid this morning, Telstra’s own launch may be further delayed. The publication reported this morning: “Take this with a huge grain of salt, but we’ve been hearing from a few people — and it’s been posted on Telstra’s own community forums — that the HTC One XL for Telstra may have been delayed until the middle of June (next month).”

One poster on Telstra’s CrowdSupport web forum this week stated that “A birdie tells me to expect the One XL on May 28th”, however another poster noted that they had been told by Telstra retail staff that the launch date for the One XL was the end of June, and another wrote that it was virtually confirmed that the launch date would be mid-June. Telstra is advertising the HTC One line through Google Adwords, with interestd customers directed through to the company’s general early registration page.

If the HTC One XL is delayed significantly in Australia, it will leave the nation without a really high-end handset supporting Telstra’s new 4G network for some time. The current 4G handsets available through Telstra — notably the HTC Velocity 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G — are largely seen as re-workings of existing handset offerings in Australia rather than examples of the next-generation of handsets available internationally.

opinion/analysis
It’s a bad time to be in the market for a high-end smartphone in Australia. I strongly recommend, if you’re looking for a new top-end model, that you wait at least 2-3 months to see what 4G launches HTC, Samsung and perhaps even Apple and Nokia have planned for Australia on Telstra’s 4G network. If you buy too soon, you’ll be kicking yourself in a year when most of your friends have a top-end 4G model ;) It makes absolutely no sense to buy a 3G smartphone in Australia just now, when great 4G offerings are so close.

18 COMMENTS

Now been waiting 5months now to replace my aging iphone on Vodafone(didn’t really have any of the problems other complained about with vodafone). But don’t want to jump until new 4G handsets are available and will likely go with the HTC one XL or Samsung Galaxy III which ever is release first.

I’ve been waiting for the XL for 3 months now. First March, then April now June. I know that Qualcomm have indicated the Snapdragon dual core being used in the XL has supply issues, but seriously. The X has been out for nearly 2 months now and I’m desperately wringing the last onboard memory from my Desire.

Like you’ve said Renai, I don’t wanna be stuck with 3g in a years time when 4g begins its big rollout, but the wait is excruciating. My Desire has even stopped Google account syncing and I really don’t want to reset it before I get a new phone.

“It makes absolutely no sense to buy a 3G smartphone in Australia just now, when great 4G offerings are so close.”

Ummm…. Well, not entirely true.

Yes, 4G will be the duck’s nuts when it’s available for everyone, but seriously, how soon will that be? I’m in Perth, so only CBD for me for now (I live around 16 KM north of the city, and nothing on Telstra site about it being available anywhere near me in the forseeable future), and I work away in the north of the state where there’s only Telstra coverage, but no plan for any kind of upgrade to services at our site to support 4G…, we can barely use the current NextG as there’s many more people on the site, and only 1 tower, but we’re in the middle of nowhere.

The upshot of this? Maybe for me in my personal situation, I wouldn’t need a 4G phone… Not a critical requirement. And I’d hardly be the only person in this situation. Great to have the flash new phone (and on the specs alone, I’ll love the XL when it’s available), but perhaps there’s some bargains to be had here…

How many people heavily use data on the phone, and absolutely NEED 20+megabits to survive? Or is it just really cool to have the latest fastest bestest? If that’s not needed, maybe if you’re not in a 4G upgrade area then NextG phones I suspect might end up being discounted. Maybe people will save themselves a bit of money and upgrade to a new phone for half the cost of the same phone now, once these high end units are released.

Very rationally argued DJ…..but entirely beside the point, at least for people such as myself :D

Currently, I have a 3G HTC Desire (single-channel, no DC-HSPA for me!). It can happily play your average normal quality YouTube video at my home, 2 hours south of Sydney where most people have, or eventually get Telstra coverage (Optus sucks and Vodafone down here may as well not exist). We’ve no idea when or even IF 4G will ever come here, but it doesn’t matter to me. I work in the CBD of Sydney, but I’ve got access to a WiFi network at work that’s NEARLY as fast as 4G.

All that is irrelevant however. Currently, the HTC One X from Optus or Vodafone is $0 on the $59 plans. You can guarantee when it comes to Telstra, the One XL will be $0 on the $79 plan. That’s how Telstra works, charge a premium for better service and reception, which, in general, they provide. Again, not relevant for me. I’m already ON a $59 BYO phone plan, so I’ll be buying the XL outright. It’s more expensive than on a plan, but I HATE being locked into a contract.

The point of all this is, in 2 years time, the 4G network will be SUBSTANTIALLY bigger than it is now and wherever I am, I’ll be able to take advantage of it. By then, you can guarantee YouTube quality will be up, along with website size, music quality, just about everything evolves upward as speeds increase and quotas too. Meanwhile, those that have “saved” maybe $150 are stuck waiting for buffering on their average YouTube clip of the week, while I’m happily watching a HD version of a new release movie from Google Play (just launched about 6 weeks ago here in Aus) over my 4G connection, wirelessly streamed to my 46inch HD TV thanks to HTC’s MediaHub.

All this might seem frivolous, wasteful, somewhat impractical and immature…..but hey, welcome to the life of a Geek. Loud and proud!! THAT is why we are waiting for the XL….well, that and the fact that it’s currently the best you can buy….that’s half the point! :D

P.S- As a side note; I travel for work and being able to VPN to our server at real-time speeds is VERY useful. On the X, it’d be a chore, on the XL- No problems!

Meh, I was originally excited about the one xl. So many great hardware specs all wrapped neatly into one package. I thought it to be a smartphone designed for the power-user. But with a non-removable 1,800 mAh battery, no expandable memory with only 16gb of space… this is not a phone to last a power-user. All that power rendered mute by 2 small design choices. A real shame.

borg, I’d usually agree, but after having my Desire for 2 years and doing just about everything it’s possible to do with it and finding I STILL usually get enough charge for a day, it’s not really that big of an issue for me. (recently I was overseas and I had it on Hotspot for 4 hours of the work day and STILL managed to only flatten it an hour before bed) Let’s face it, there are HEAPS of apps out there to maximise battery use. I use 2 and they work great. I went from barely getting home on a 16 hour day, to having 40% left when I went to bed. It’s all about conservation. And if it’s still an issue, how often are we REALLY away from a power source….or a battery pack extender….

And in terms of the 16GB, non-expandable- yeah, I agree it is a shame. But that’s what Dropbox was invented for and that’s why HTC gives us 25GB; they’re trying to move us to the cloud. You can’t tell me an iPhone is better…..

Ohhhhno! I would go another 2 year with my current phone (which incidentally is also a Desire, so kudos ;D) rather than get an iPhone. BLEH!

I also get about a days worth out of my Desire, but I don’t do with my Desire what I would do with an One XL, or GS3. But in addition to increased application demand, make no mistake those extra cores and 720p screen would suck the juice. Don’t expect miracles from that dedicated idle core either. I mean, it would help, but not what you’d hope for. The Samsung have been burnt by battery issues before, which is why they are shipping the GS3 with a 2100 mAh battery. Will it make much difference? Who knows. Time will tell, but least its swappable.

The Dropbox addition is also nice in theory, but in this country, with costly data packs, it doesn’t prove a solution for the files that will take up the most amount of space; movies/music.

Dropbox is certainly not an ideal option. I guess the built in storage comes down to choice- I’ve had a 16GB MicroSD since I first bought my Desire and It’s barely half full with music and photos. Granted, I tend to be repetitive with my music and the camera on the Desire is….well, pretty crappy, so I don’t bother taking many photos. But I guess, for me, 16GB is ok. Whatever doesn’t fit, can go onto Dropbox, or WiFi sync to my computer (or my Asus Transformer Infinity, which at this stage looks set to beat the bloody XL to the market!) It is a shame, but not a deal breaker for me.

Regarding the battery life- It’s true the added functionality and features such as the screen will chew through it a bit, but I’m not that worried- one good thing about the XL and X series is the docking contacts, so you don’t even need to fiddle with Micro USB! Makes charging a cinch! (not so SG3)

Oh, by the way, don’t get the X and XL confused in terms of processor- the X runs the Tegra 3 quad-core, not the XL. THAT has the extra core, 5 in total. The XL runs the Snapdragon Dual-core, 1.6 GHz. That’s one of the reasons for the delay, I think (other than Telstra being Telstra). It has been roadtested and actually come back with BETTER performance AND battery than the Tegra 3, except in extreme processing applications, where, obviously, more cores means better performance. But seeing as this mainly applies to games, which I don’t really play on my phone, I’m not fussed. Interestingly, the GSIII has the new Xynos processor. Here’s a link to Engadget’s benchmarking of it http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/03/gsiii-benchmarks/

What’s REALLY interesting is the One “X” AT&T version benchmark comparison. THAT One X ISN’T the One X, it’s the One XL (shown in specs from Engadget’s launch post for the AT&T One X). And look at the comparison- it beats it in almost every category. Now, I’m happy to admit defeat if, once the SG3 comes out benchmarks show otherwise, but from the surface, it looks as though that new Xynos in the SG3 is being given a run for its’ money by the Snapdragon in the One XL. All that’s left now, is battery life comparisons…..and that may shed new light on why Samsung have shoehorned at 2100 mAh battery, while the One XL is happy with an 1800…..

It will be interesting to see, but I’m still hankerin’ for some One XL spankerin’! Hurry up Telstra!!

Well, though not confirmation in any way, I was in a JB HIFI store today, and they actually had a dummy of the XL, arrived yesterday. The sales slouch knew nothing of the phone, only that the demo/dummy arrived yesterday, and that these props usually arrive “2 to 3 weeks before release”. This dummy was grey (NOT white) but the screen had 4G in the “signal” area.

He knew nothing about the phone, when I asked ( didn’t know what OS, on board memory, any possible accessories), didn’t seem to know much about anything. He did ask whether I might be interested in an iPhone though…. I gave him “The Stare” and politely said no thanks.

Mind you, it’s difficult to find any store where the staff seem to know anything beyond what their current glossy picture brochure says about anything. Certainly here in Perth, anyway. I’ve never found anyone in any phone store who knew anything beyond what the rep had told them.

Sounds like good news DJ. The Australian XL is most probably gonna be Grey, just like the Asian XL’s. I think it’s partly to differentiate it from the X.

Agreed about the average mobile store staff though. I applied for a job at our local Telstra store which upped shop to a bigger and better location. I was told I “didn’t meet their requirements” by the guy who actually interviewed me, although he apologised, because the lady I had a phone interview from head office with was supposed to ring me and tell me.

I walked into the shop about 2 weeks after it opened….the average staff age is 19 (not that this is bad but….) and when I asked them if they knew whether or not the SGS2 ICS update was coming soon, they stared at me blankly and pointed to the SGS2 4G that’d just been released….

Glad Telstra is releasing some HTC One phones. I’m due for an upgrade, so will probably go with the One XL. Would have preferred the One X though – pity they didn’t get it.(Don’t like Optus or Vodaphone.) I’m sure Telstra would have made a killing with the One X.

Been waiting months for the One X, so Telstra told me they were going to release it in two weeks and that was a month ago!! and now Telstra aren’t even bringing it out!! So p****d off!! Not too keen on the XL or Samsung GS2!

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